Coolest Science Stories of the Week

Cool Science

<p>Owls watching their own backs, scientists observing fish think and amazing fossil finds are in our top Science stories this week.</p>
<p>Check these out!</p>

Identity of famous brain found

<p> The identity of a mysterious patient who helped scientists pinpoint the brain region responsible for language has been discovered, researchers report.</p>
<p> The new finding, detailed in the January issue of the Journal of the History of the Neurosciences, identifies the famous patient as Monsieur Louis Leborgne, a French craftsman who battled epilepsy his entire life.</p>
[Full Story: <a href=http://www.livescience.com/26599-famous-brain-injury-patient-identified.html target="_blank">
Identity of Famous 19th-Century Brain Discovered
</a>]

Whale poop may fetch $180,000

<p> What's yellowish-gray, stinks to high heaven and is worth tens of thousands of dollars per pound?</p>
<p> Just ask Ken Wilman, whose dog Madge went nuts over a dirty old rock the pair found on a lonely, windswept beach near Morecambe, England. But it wasn't actually a rock: "When I picked it up and smelled it, I put it back down again, and I thought 'urgh,'" Wilman told the BBC.</p>
[Full Story: <a href=http://www.livescience.com/26785-ambergris-sperm-whale.html target="_blank">
Whale-Poop Find May Fetch Man $180,000
</a>]

Is scientific genius extinct?

<p> Modern-day science has little room for the likes of Galileo, who first used the telescope to study the sky, or Charles Darwin, who put forward the theory of evolution, argues a psychologist and expert in scientific genius.</p><p> Dean Keith Simonton of the University of California, Davis, says that just like the ill-fated dodo, scientific geniuses like these men have gone extinct.</p>
[Full Story: <a href=http://www.livescience.com/26779-end-scientific-genius.html target="_blank">
Is Scientific Genius Extinct?
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How owls spin their heads

<p> Owls don't need eyes in the back of their heads to see what's behind them — they can just swivel their heads all the way around. In fact, many owl species, such as the barred owl, can rotate their heads 270 degrees in each direction, which means they can look to the left by rotating all the way to the right, or vice versa.</p><p> But how do they do it without severing their arteries or preventing blood from reaching the brain? An illustrator and a physician at the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine teamed up to find out.</p>
[Full Story: <a href=http://www.livescience.com/26771-how-owls-rotate-heads.html target="_blank">
Biological Twist: How Owls Spin Heads Around
</a>]

Virtual superheroes may change you

<p> It's a bird! It's a plane! It's a superhero flying in a virtual sky! Scientists now find that seeing superpowers in a virtual-reality game may lead people to act more virtuously in real life.</p><p> Virtual-reality technology uses video displays and other gear to immerse people in realistic digital environments. Virtual reality can lead to mind-bending experiences, such as making users think they have swapped bodies with someone else. The effects of virtual reality can endure long after these experiences, which psychologists hope can help in therapies for ailments such as phobias and post-traumatic stress disorder.</p>
[Full Story: <a href=http://www.livescience.com/26752-superheroes-boost-helpful-behavior.html target="_blank">
Virtual Superheroes May Change You … for the Better
</a>]

Mystery of disappearing pigeons solved

<p> The mystery of how homing pigeons are able to navigate home may have been solved. The birds use low-frequency sound waves to make a mental map of their location, new research suggests.</p><p> The findings, published today (Jan. 30) in the Journal of Experimental Biology, may shed light on why the normally amazing navigators sometimes get completely lost: the low-frequency waves from their current location don't reach their home loft.</p>
[Full Story: <a href=http://www.livescience.com/26714-how-homing-pigeons-navigate.html target="_blank">
Mystery of Lost Homing Pigeons Finally Solved
</a>]

Tapeworm eggs found in fossil shark poop

<p> Ancient tapeworm eggs found in 270-million-year-old shark poop suggests these parasites may have plagued animals for much longer than previously known, researchers say.</p><p> Tapeworms cling to the inner walls of the intestines of vertebrates — creatures with backbones such as fish, pigs, cows and humans. When these parasites reach adulthood, they unleash their eggs on the world via the feces of their hosts.</p>
[Full Story: <a href=http://www.livescience.com/26738-ancient-tapeworms-fossilized-shark-poop.html target="_blank">
Ancient Tapeworm Eggs Found in Fossilized Shark Poop
</a>]

Ancient super-croc fossil found

<p> Long-forgotten remains of a giant dolphin-shaped crocodilian "super-predator" that could devour ancient beasts its size and larger have now been discovered in a museum drawer in Scotland, researchers say.</p><p> The ancient newfound crocodilian is named <i>Tyrannoneustes lythrodectikos</i>, which in ancient Greek means "blood-biting tyrant swimmer."</p>
[Full Story: <a href=http://www.livescience.com/26706-ancient-super-croc-fossil-discovered.html target="_blank">
Ancient 'Super-Croc' Fossil Discovered in Museum Drawer
</a>]

Bigfoot blamed for strange shrieks

<p> Do new recordings from Oregon's Blue Mountains offer good evidence of the mysterious bipedal creature known as Bigfoot? That's what some are claiming after hearing a recording of strange roars and shrieks given to The Oregonian newspaper.</p><p> When people think of Bigfoot evidence, casts of big footprints and blurry photos and films often come to mind. But someof the more interesting bits of evidence are sound recordings of alleged vocalizations. One company, Sierra Sounds, markets a CD called "The Bigfoot Recordings: The Edge of Discovery." Narrated by "Star Trek" actor Jonathan Frakes, the recording claims to have captured vocalizations among a Bigfoot family. The sounds include a series of guttural grunts, howls and growls.The liner notes offer testimonials from a "linguist" whose self-described credentials include playing the flute, speaking several languages, and having "a Russian friend [who] thinks I'm Russian."</p>
[Full Story: <a href=http://www.livescience.com/26663-bigfoot-strange-sounds.html target="_blank">
Bigfoot Blamed for Strange Shrieks
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